Wednesday, August 17, 2016

The first in a sexy contemporary romance series
featuring the Lawless siblings—from New York Times bestselling author
Lexi Blake.

The Lawless siblings are bound by vengeance. Riley, Drew, Brandon,
and Mia believe the CEO of StratCast orchestrated their parents’ murder twenty
years ago to steal their father’s software program. And there’s only one way
Riley can find some solid evidence...

Heir to the StratCast legacy, Ellie Stratton
hires a new attorney to handle a delicate business matter—and she’s shocked by
her attraction to him. Over the course of a few weeks, Riley becomes her lover,
her friend, her everything. But when her life is threatened, Ellie discovers
that Riley is more obsessed with settling an old score than in the love she
thought they were building. And Riley must choose between a revenge he’s
prepared for all his life and the woman he’s sure he can’t live without...

“Why did you do that?”

It was the first time she’d spoken without being
prompted. “Do what?”

Her face flushed the sweetest pink. The color
went all the way down that sexy V-neck. Her breasts flushed as well as her
face, and it made his damn dick tighten. “Kiss me. Why did you kiss me like
that?”

Oh, so many reasons, but he gave her the most
compelling one. “I wanted to.”

The minute she’d opened the door and he’d seen
her standing there looking anxious, he’d known how to calm her down. All he’d
had to do was put his hands on her and some odd connection flared between the
two of them. She hadn’t fought him. He could have gone on kissing her. He’d
been the one to pull away.

It was like the minute he walked in, he was the
only thing that existed for her. It made him feel ten feet tall, but it also
made him want to please her.

It was an unsettling sensation.

Her hands came up, fingers on the sides of the
table. “You know what I’m asking. You knew I wasn’t alone. Why did you pretend
to be my boyfriend?”

It was easy to see she’d wanted him to wait for
her at the restaurant so as to avoid him meeting her sister and ex. When she’d
opened the door, he’d immediately known something was wrong. He’d gotten a
glimpse of her sister and known Ellie had likely needed a hand. It had to be
tough on a woman’s ego to lose even a pathetic excuse of a husband to a younger
sister.

She shook her head. “At the time, we were
definitely married. How did you know he was my ex-husband?”

“He took half your net wealth. I’m your lawyer.
At this level, a good lawyer is less legal counsel and more war consultant. I
can’t properly perform my duties if I don’t know everything about you,
including the fact that you tend to have terrible taste in men.”

She frowned. “I haven’t had a ton of boyfriends.
I’m not sure what my taste is.”

He really wanted to understand why she’d married
that obvious prick. “What attracted you to him? Because from where I was
standing, he looked like a dickwad desperate to be twenty-one again.”

She bit into her bottom lip, her eyes glancing
away from him. “He wasn’t always like that. I actually met him when he was
twenty-one. He was far more mature then.”

He liked her candor. “You were in college?”

“Last year of undergrad. We dated for two years
and then it seemed like it was time to get married. We’d moved back here to
Manhattan so I could take my place at StratCast. I thought he was going to go
to grad school, but he decided on a different path.”

“What path was that?”

A single brow rose over her right eye. “You
don’t know?”

Of course he knew. He knew everything. “Are you
referring to your ex-husband’s penchant for swinging for the fences? When it
comes to investments, that is.”

It was what he liked to call “idiots who funded
ridiculous ideas.” They never wanted a simple profit out of their money. They
wanted millions and really fucking fast. They swung for the grand slam when all
they needed to do was get on base.

It took a true genius to take a single idea and
make millions off it. Drew had.

Her shoulders straightened. “He wanted the easy
solution. A get-rich-quick scheme. He wasn’t that way at first. At one point he
was very intellectual. It’s what attracted me to him. He was curious about the
world and liked to discuss everything from politics to social jus- tice to
movies we saw. He changed. I didn’t. In some ways, I blame getting involved
with me for what happened to him. He got around my father and real wealth and
wanted some of his own. When I met him, he wanted to be a professor. He wanted
to teach.”

At least he’d gotten her this far. She was
talking. Now he needed to get those shoulders down from around her earlobes.
For one moment, for that moment when he’d drawn her into his arms and pressed
his mouth to hers, she’d relaxed against him, given over to him. Her body had
softened and she’d leaned into him, and if he’d pressed her, he didn’t know
what would have happened. She might have continued kissing him, forgetting all
about the other people in the room. He could have cupped her breast, her ass.
Put his hands anywhere he liked.

She hadn’t given a damn that they hadn’t been
alone. All she’d cared about was him.

4.5 Stars

Lexi Blake is one of my favorite BDSM novelist and the absolute best
when it comes to writing erotic stories that are not only off the charts steamy,
but intriguing as well. Yeesh, found within the pages of her books are some of
the sexiest flogger-wielding Alpha-Doms ever. (I freaking love all the
McKay-Taggart hotties in the Masters and Mercenaries novels). When finding out
there was a new series coming along, I jumped at the chance to get my hands on
the first installment, Ruthless.

Even though Riley and Ellie’s romance was a departure from Blake’s BDSM
style that I adore, it was no less captivating. Ruthless had everything I love whenever reading this author’s tales
~ an exceptionally written nail biting story line whose plot twists had me on
edge; An un-be-lievably hot yet romantically sweet hero; a sassy heroine; And a
cast of colorful characters that left me wanting to discover their stories.
From the emotionally heartbreaking prologue that had me all teary-eyed, through
to the last page, Ruthless was an
angst filled passionate read that I consumed in just one sitting.

As children, Riley Lawless and his siblings suffered the horrific
tragedy of their parents’ murder, which was rooted by corporate greed. After
years of plotting and positioning, it was time for those responsible to pay for
their crimes. It was Riley’s responsibility to insinuate himself into Eleanor
Stratton’s company and seduce her. Her firm, StratCast, was founded on stolen
technology and his parents’ blood shed. Regardless of the fact that Ellie
was not directly responsible for the Lawless’ death, she was instrumental in
the grand scheme.

“The sins of
the father were about to be visited on the daughter’s doorstep. Ellie Stratton
would have to pay her father’s debt.”

Using her was just part of the plan. Consumed with vengeance, Riley was
ruthless in his pursuit of bringing down his targets but surprised when the
unthinkable happened… he fell hopelessly in love with Ellie.

“I love you, Ellie. I'm
going to say it until you understand that I mean it. This started out as a job,
as a path I've been on since the night my parents died. But it led me to you,
and though I wish my mom and dad were here with me, I have to be happy that I
found you.”

The chemistry between this couple was scorching. With their whirlwind
insta-romance starting off hot and heavy, but based on Riley’s secrets and
lies, I found myself anxiously holding my breath waiting for everything to unravel
as the story progressed. All the passion and deceits frayed my nerves.On top of all the relationship angst, there
were plot twists, bad guys and circumstances that had me on edge as well. Secrets,
betrayals, murderous plots, unending suspense… with each revelation more
questions arose as I became fully immersed within Riley and Ellie’s story. I just
love when a book is so gripping, each intricate detail has a meaning, and I’m
forced to pay close attention while piecing together the puzzle. Ruthless was exactly that type of read.

Riley was delectably sexy and so tenderhearted, he had me swooning. A
shrewd lawyer with a plan of attack, he was fueled by his family’s need for
justice. I loved the way his character journeyed from the stone cold man solely
focused on revenge, to a true and dedicated hero willing to sacrifice everything
for Ellie. And when her world came crumbling down, it was Riley who came to her
rescue. Desperate for her forgiveness and affections, Riley worked hard to
right the all wrongs that destroyed Ellie, despite his family’s thirst for
vengeance. Once deceptive and later sincere, he won me over with his overly
romantic ways.

“He'd seen
everything he loved lost at one point or another, but she was different.He
couldn't lose her.”

Poor Ellie. She was everyone’s pawn and so eager to trust those who were
part of her close circle. Friends, colleagues, family… all took advantage of
her sympathetic heart. A businesswoman with ethics, Ellie found herself surrounded by conniving vipers,
including the man of her dreams. Living a lonely life, she took a chance on
Riley, which in the end shattered her to pieces.

As naive and insecure as she first appeared, Ellie developed a backbone when
her life spun out of control, and I admired the way she stubbornly stood her
ground against those who betrayed her. But above all, Ellie was compassionate
and regardless of her dire circumstances, she opened her heart to the entire
Lawless clan. In the end, her love for Riley was genuine ~ she was the perfect woman to break
through all of his defenses and help heal past heartaches.

Ruthless was an extremely intense novel that had all the feels. I loved the McKay-Taggart
connection and the Lawless family dynamics. Riley and Ellie’s journey was just
the beginning of an intricate story line and I can’t wait for it to continue in
Brandon and Andrew’s romances. Another great read from Lexi Blake and a perfect
choice for lovers of steamy romantic suspense.

NY Times and USA Today bestselling author Lexi Blake lives in North
Texas with her husband, three kids, and the laziest rescue dog in the world.
She began writing at a young age, concentrating on plays and journalism. It
wasn't until she started writing romance and urban fantasy that she found the
stories of her heart. She likes to find humor in the strangest places and
believes in happy endings no matter how odd the couple, threesome, or foursome
may seem.